AMHERST — Outgoing Superintendent Maria Geryk broke her silence Thursday, releasing a statement saying she “had no choice” but to separate from the district.
Geryk, who assumed her position at the helm of Amherst schools in 2012, said she will separate from the district to stay true to her beliefs. The statement was released to the Gazette by Debbie Westmoreland, administrative assistant to the superintendent.
“I believe that education is the most important mission related work there is. I have also always believed it is important to work and live in the way that makes you personally happy and professionally fulfilled,” Geryk said in the statement. “While the decision to leave was extremely difficult, it was clear to me that I had no choice but to take this step so that I could live true to this belief.”
In early July, Geryk signaled to the Amherst-Pelham Regional and Union 26 School Committees through her attorney that she wanted to leave her post two years before her contract is up, according to Amherst-Pelham Regional School Committee chairwoman Laura Kent. Geryk’s contract expires June 30, 2018.
The committees plunged into 14 hours of closed-door meetings, held July 13 and 20, and Aug. 1 and 9, to iron out the terms of her departure. The committees eventually settled on a $309,238 separation agreement at a joint meeting Tuesday night. Geryk was not in attendance.
The Amherst-Pelham Regional committee voted 4-3 to approve the settlement, but the Union 26 committee did not meet its four-member quorum that night and will have a do-over vote Monday at 9 a.m.
The meeting, set to last 15 minutes, will take place at the Amherst Middle School Professional Development Center.
According to Kent, there will be another school committee meeting Wednesday to go over the funding for Geryk’s tentative $309,238 settlement, which will come from the school budget rather than insurance.
Kent previously said the minutes from the four executive sessions and additional documents used in those meetings will be released Wednesday to “connect the dots” about what happened behind closed doors.
Questions swirled as the committees debated behind closed doors. On Aug. 1, Michael Hootstein, whose grandson attends Amherst Regional High School, filed an Open Meeting Law complaint against the Amherst-Pelham Regional School Committee, Kent, and Katherine Appy, chairwoman of the Amherst School Committee.
Kent said the complaint also will be addressed Wednesday.
During her time as superintendent, Geryk has been criticized by some for not being able to manage conflict.
She has been at the center of several public controversies, including a stay-away order issued against Pelham parent Aisha Hiza in March, and the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination case that led to a $180,000 settlement with high school teacher Carolyn Gardner in July 2015 and anti-bullying presentations by Calvin Terrell in fall 2014.
Geryk, who has been with the district for 14 years, said in her statement that it has been an honor to work with the faculty and staff of the Amherst, Pelham and regional schools.
The statement in its entirety appears below.
“It has been an honor to work with the extraordinary faculty and staff of the Amherst, Pelham and Regional Schools on behalf of our communities’ children over the past 14 years. I believe that education is the most important mission related work there is. I have also always believed it is important to work and live in the way that makes you personally happy and professionally fulfilled. While the decision to leave was extremely difficult, it was clear to me that I had no choice but to take this step so that I could live true to this belief. I want to thank our community for their unwavering support of public education and for the opportunity I had to work with their children.”
She joined the Amherst school system in 2002 as a special education administrator before becoming interim superintendent in 2009 and 2010. She previously worked for the Frontier and Gill-Montague regional districts and in Westfield as a school psychologist, special education teacher and school adjustment counselor.